Chapter 7 Colt
Colt
Violet’s pregnant.
“You listening to me, Ford?”
Violet was back in Silver Springs. I saw her with my own eyes three days ago.
Deputy Nate Jones crossed his arms as he leaned on the door frame to Hank’s office. Which, of course, was officially mine for the next few weeks.
“Yeah, you want to swap out your three night shifts next week with Hamilton, who has some family event he wants to be on days for?”
Violet’s pregnant. She was just standing there, so goddamn beautiful. Pregnant.
“Right. You sure you’re okay?”
“I’m fine.” I pulled my readers down, tossing them on the pile of paperwork in front of me. “Consider the scheduling matter handled. Now leave me alone.”
Jonesy left, muttering something under his breath that I absolutely didn’t have time to worry about.
Jesus. These reports were making my eyes bleed.
I knew it was a fucking painful, but necessary, part of my job to fill them out, but I didn’t know how Hank sat here, hour after hour, running through all of them.
A great reminder why I wanted this position to only be temporary.
I had enough bureaucracy to deal with in my chief deputy position.
I shook my head, the burning in my eyes returning as I focused on the computer screen in front of me.
“Hey, apple-anche. What’s going on? Everything alright?
” My ears picked up on the greeting that came from the front desk.
God, that was awfully familiar for greeting someone at the station.
Jonesy needed to watch himself. Most days, one of us had to slap him on the back of the head for being such an outrageous flirt.
“Nate! I guess you were telling the truth about working here. If it’s not too much trouble, I was hoping to speak with a deputy today.”
The second her voice hit my ears, I was out of my—er, Hank’s—chair. I forced myself to slow down, taking a breath as I crossed my arms and leaned against the door frame.
“Yeah, of course, Violet. I can direct you to someone back in our offices, or I could even help you if you wanted to explain why you’re here and what you need help with?”
I watched as Vi shifted the large legal sized envelope in her arms, holding whatever was inside closer to her chest. Her cheeks turned a rosy red as she shook her head. Stubborn, like always.
“Jones.” My voice boomed across the office as I pushed off the wall, walking towards the locked door. “Buzz her in.”
He spun around to look at me, but I just nodded. “Uh, sure thing, Ford.”
Violet’s eyes went wide, her lips opened like she was about to tell me off and run right out of the station.
But then her eyes dropped down to the envelope again, and she squared her shoulders, taking a step towards me.
Interesting. Whatever was in there was bad enough that she’d set aside everything between us.
And honestly, that terrified me.
“You two know each other?” I asked as she got closer.
“What?” she hissed.
“You and Deputy Jones. He called you ‘apple-anche’. What the hell does that mean?”
“Oh.” She smiled. “I caused a bit of a scene at the Shop and Save the other night. He helped me with my groceries. The day…the day I got into town.”
Fuck. I hated that. I should have known she’d need to get things once she got settled. Why hadn’t I offered to take her? Oh, yeah. I was too busy thinking I was having a heart attack…
“What’s going on?” I asked as my hand slipped to the small of her back. Violet stopped walking, pulling away from my touch.
“I’m just here to speak to a deputy. My dad…Well, he thought it might be a good idea. But it seems like you all are busy, so I’ll just set up an appointment and come back at a better time.”
“Nope. Not so fast. My office. Let’s go.”
Violet’s bottom lip was immediately assaulted by her teeth, but that frustrated pout had lost its power on me years ago. I just chuckled as I turned, leading her back to Hank’s office. Her eyes went wide as she read the plaque on the wall just outside the door.
“I drove to Bell Ridge because I thought you still worked out of the Silver Springs satellite office. You’re the sheriff now?”
“No. Hell no. I’m just filling in. Come on and sit. You want to take off your jacket?”
“Um. Maybe? It’s warmer in here than I was thinking it was going to be.”
“I imagine carrying the baby makes you warm, too.”
Her eyes dropped to her hands, then looked back at me. “Colt…I…I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”
I stopped, sinking into the chair before pointing from my wife to the chair in front of the desk.
Really fucking wished there was a sofa or something more comfortable for her to sit on, but Violet just sighed and rolled her eyes as she sat down across from me.
She slipped her arms out of her blazer, and I had to fight every damn desire in my body to look her over.
Instead, I cleared my throat and distracted myself with logging onto the ancient laptop I’d just been reading reports on.
“Why would I be uncomfortable?” I asked, raising my eyebrow.
I knew what she was going to say. I’d been fucking avoiding her every chance I got.
But part of me wanted to hear her say it.
To admit that the circumstances of her return to Silver Springs, so far into a pregnancy and without the baby’s father anywhere to be seen, was suspicious.
“You just sort of ran away right after you saw me. And I wouldn’t expect you to stay.
It’s just that…” Her eyes dropped to that damn envelope again.
“I want to talk to you about all this, but not when anyone else is around. I need to explain. I didn’t think you’d be there when I pulled up the other day, and I got flustered. I should have said something then.”
I crossed my arms, pressing back into my chair. “So say it now.”
“I can’t. I shouldn’t have come down here. I thought you’d be out on patrol in town somewhere. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t even think about getting out of that chair.
” My voice dropped low, the vibrations of a growl rumbling through my chest as my eyes snapped to her emerald green ones.
Her hand came up to twist the gold bracelet she was wearing, one I didn’t recognize.
I wanted to smack myself. Why would I? She’s been gone so long, away from me and from Texas, there was no doubt in my mind nearly everything about my wife would be unrecognizable to me now.
“Tell me why you’re here, and we can go from there. ”
“I wanted to know if the road my parents’ house is on is frequently patrolled.”
Ice filled my veins.
“Why, Violet?”
“Because I’m about to be a mom, and I’d like to know that the baby and I are in a safe place.”
Alarm bells blared in my mind as she looked at everything in the fucking office except for me.
“Look at me.”
Her eyes closed for half a second before she sighed, looking directly in my eyes. “Are you in danger?” I asked.
“Don’t be ridiculous. I just want to know we’re safe. I’m thinking about having a security system installed, but that felt like overkill for a quiet place like Silver Springs.” Her lip slipped between her top and bottom teeth.
“You’re lying to me.” It wasn’t a question. I knew that was one of her tells. Apparently that hadn’t changed.
“No, I’m not.”
I sat back, my arms folding across my chest. When it came to pulling a confession from someone, I was stubborn. I could wait. I could watch Vi squirm a little.
She cracked faster than I ever thought she would. “Fine. There was someone in New York.”
“Someone?” The baby’s father? Just say it, Violet. Tell me about him.
“I'm writing now.”
She didn’t know I knew all about her novels. That every single one she’d ever published sat on my bookshelf at home. That I’d read through them like a madman hoping to catch a glimpse, a nod, to something that we once shared.
“We think it’s a reader. A fan. God, I hate saying it like that. I don’t know who they are. At first, they reached out and were so sweet. Commenting on all the little clues I hid throughout my stories. It wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. Just someone who seemed to like my writing.”
She was beating around the bush. Something had spooked her. “Until?”
“Until they asked me how my pregnancy was going.”
My skin pebbled. Fuck. They were watching her.
“I haven’t announced that I’m pregnant, and I won’t be.
So my readers wouldn’t—shouldn’t—know. And I know what you’re thinking…
someone probably saw me out and about, but I’ve been seeing a midwife, and she comes to my apartment for my visits.
I wasn’t ever at an OB office. I just couldn’t after everything.
” Her voice caught and I nodded, shoving down my own emotions that were pushing up to the surface.
“Someone could have seen you shopping in the city, or running an errand? Hell, a book signing? What about getting an ultrasound for the baby?”
“No, no, and no. I had my meal plan delivered to my apartment. I haven’t had a book signing in over a year, and because I was on deadline, there was no time to run errands.
I’m behind schedule, and writing is all I have time for.
I did have an ultrasound. One. That was the only time I went to a hospital and I wore baggy clothes.
I hid my belly. It was the first appointment of the day, and I was the only one there. ”
Had she found out what she was having that morning? I knew it wouldn’t matter to her. It wouldn’t have mattered to me, either.
“Okay, so this person asked you about your pregnancy, and you said what?”
“I didn’t say anything. I deleted the message and blocked the person on social media. I was so freaked out that I told my business manager, but he thought it was just some spillover anxiety from the pregnancy.”
I already hated him, and I didn’t even know his name. “No. You were right to trust your gut.”
“I know. You taught me that the day Mary Lucas cut my bangs, pretending to be my friend, and then everyone laughed at me in gym class.”
“I don’t know why they laughed. I always like you with bangs.”
She smiled at that, but her hand moved to her belly, and I saw her face fall. “I am scared, Colt. I thought it would fade away, but more messages came. And they’ve become more…intimate.”
“What do you mean, intimate?” I bark at her so hard I have to clear my throat and cough.
That’s when she opened the envelope she’d been holding onto.
“These all went to my business manager’s office. It’s the only address on file for my pen name.”
She slid the packet across my desk, her eyes instantly dropping back down to her hand resting on her belly.
I saw the first page, and I wanted to vomit. Someone had been sending Violet the most violating messages. A predator watching over their prey. No wonder Vi looked exhausted—she was.
Fuck that. Normally, if a citizen of Clarence County came in with this, we’d set them up with a twice daily patrol, then someone in the tech department might dig a little deeper to see if they could get something off the person’s computer or device.
But like hell was I about to leave Violet to the hope that someone so depraved wouldn’t follow her here.
I picked up the papers, shoved them back into the envelope, and pushed back from the desk.
“Let’s go.”
Violet’s eyes went wide. “Go where? Do we need to speak to another deputy?”
“No. We’re going home. You’re moving back home.”
“Colt.” She rubbed her temples, not moving to get to her feet. “I’m not moving in with you. I just told you I’m planning on getting a home security system put in. I just…I wanted to know how far away a deputy would normally be. Just in case.”
“In case what, Vi? In case a fucking predator followed you here and breaks into the cabin? In case they escalate things further than creepy fucking messages and taunts? What if they hurt you? Hurt the baby?”
She held out her hand. “I’d like my papers back, please.”
I’d messed up. Pushed too hard.
“Look, I’m sorry for being so…gruff. But I’d really like you to reconsider. If you move back in, you’re on the ranch with my brothers, Jessie, and my parents. You’d have people around you. I’m almost your closest neighbor at your parents’ place. That’s too isolated.”
I handed the folder back to her.
“I appreciate the advice, and the offer. I’m going to head back to Silver Springs and ask to speak with someone about home security. I’ll try not to bother you with this again.”
“Vi, no. This isn’t a bother. Seeing you here still feels like a goddamn dream. But I’m wrapping my mind around it, okay? I’ll get there. And no matter what, I want you to be safe.”
“There’s no reason to think anyone knows I’m here. The security system will be enough.”
She stood, my hand grasping her elbow as she did. I didn’t want to let her go. I couldn’t.
“You should still come to the ranch one day. I know my family would love to see you. They’d love to celebrate the baby, too.”
Her chin quivered, but only for a second. “I’d love that. I figured I might stop into the diner and see your mom. I’ll ask about stopping in when I do.”